UNC Chapel Hill Student Murdered in Apartment

September 11, 2012

(CHAPEL HILL, N.C.) — Police are investigating the murder of a 19-year-old University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill student, the second murder at the university in four years.

Undergraduate Faith Hedgepeth, a member of the Haliwa-Saponi tribe of Hollister, N.C., was found dead in her off-campus apartment on Friday. Police said they are treating the case as a homicide, but do not think it was a random killing, according to ABC News affiliate WTVD.

Police said that Hedgepeth’s body was discovered by friends, though they have not identified the individuals, according to the report.

In 2008, student president Eve Carson was kidnapped from her home and taken to a series of ATMs to withdraw money before being killed. One of her killers pleaded guilty to the murder and another was found guilty earlier this year.

Now, counselors on UNC’s campus are once again being made available to help grieving students. Chancellor Holden Thorp sent an email to students following the discovery of Hedgepeth’s body, notifying them of the “sudden death of one of our students.”

“Law enforcement officials do not believe that there is danger to other students, faculty or staff,” he wrote, according to WTVD.

Hedgepeth was a biology major who worked as a waitress at a local Red Robin, according to the report.

Members of Hedgepeth’s family and tribe gathered Sunday for a vigil. The university also plans to hold a vigil today at on campus.

Calls to Chapell Hill police and the Hedgepeth family did not immediately return calls for comment.